


Prison

by NorthernSerpent



Series: Falice: From A to Z [16]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, F/M, Mentioned Hal Cooper, consequences of season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 14:32:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16327811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernSerpent/pseuds/NorthernSerpent
Summary: Three years after they put the Shady Man in the ground, he came back to haunt them.





	Prison

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [when you can't find the words](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14371914) by [areyouabadwolf2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/areyouabadwolf2/pseuds/areyouabadwolf2). 



> I don't know anything about prison, but hey neither do the show writers.

Three years after they put the Shady Man in the ground, he came back to haunt them. All it took was a tooth. A single tooth that had somehow managed to avoid the chemicals FP had doused all over the body. 

It was enough to re-open a missing persons case. The body was never found, but the remnants of the tarp that had hugged him remained buried under layers of mud. 

It would have been a write-off. He was just another nameless drug addict. 

But news travels fast in a small town like Riverdale. It was inevitable that it would soon reach Hal Cooper’s cell.

And then everything came undone.

 

-

 

Alice kept her head down during the entirety of the sentencing hearing.  She was hyperaware of the entire town gawking at her sordid history with FP that she had worked so hard to erase. Not only did everyone know about the body of the drug dealer from Centreville, they also knew about the con-artist who had convinced her that he was the son she had given up as a teenager. She and FP were on display.  The media had quite the field day with exposees into her first marriage and newly-minted second-marriage. 

She knew that if she looked up from the floor, she would be forced to reckon with all of it.

Sierra McCoy had suggested a plea deal, knowing from experience it was their best shot.  Alice couldn’t breath when the judge announced 3-5 years.

“Fuck.” The unoriginal cuss came from Jughead.

Betty clutched his hand tightly. 

“There's gotta be something we can do. An appeal or something,” she stammered. “This can't be happening.”

Jughead wrapped his arms around her and Alice was comforted in the fact that at least they had each other. 

Alice couldn’t bear to bring herself to look at FP. She hated herself for doing this to him.

 

-

 

FP told her that prison wasn't that bad but she knew that he had been trying to make her feel better. This was her fault and now she had to pay. 

Betty and Jughead returned to school in time for the fall semester. They were three states over and in a different time zone and coordinating phone calls with a pair of Gen Z  students was a herculean task. 

It's not like she had anything better to do than be overbearing.

Betty was kind enough to reassure her that she was not but it was hard to tell with hundreds of miles between them.

Everything Thursday evening, for exactly fifteen minutes, Betty told Alice everything and nothing at all. She recounted the movies she and Jughead and seen, told Alice about the bedbug scare in their dingey apartment. 

Alice was privy to every mundane detail, and yet something felt off. Betty never actually told her  _ how  _ she was doing. She mentioned it once, and was met with silence.

“I don’t want to worry you, mom.”

“Elizabeth, I am your mother. I always worry.”

Betty paused. “I just… I miss you, you know?”

“I miss you too, Betty.”

“I wish I could visit more often.”

“That’s okay. You have school to worry about, and I’m so far away. I’ll see you at Christmas.”

It was difficult getting in touch with Betty, but Polly was down right impossible. Alice knew that the girl was struggling to balance two hyperactive school-age children as best she could, but it still hurt that she only managed to hear her voice every few weeks. Sometimes the twins would say an obligatory hello and it broke her heart that they didn’t know her at all.

 

-

 

Alice quickly became a ramen connoisseur. She learned from FP to crumble some uncooked noodles on top for an extra crunch. 

At first she raised an unamused eyebrow at the suggestion. 

“Don't knock it til you try it,” his static voice made its way through the receiver. “Trust me, when it comes to prison food, you've gotta lower your standards a bit.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “I'm tired of lowering my standards.”

All she wanted was to crawl through the phone line and see his infuriating smirk. She never thought she could miss him as much as she does. 

“I should have testified. Maybe it would have changed something.”

“No,” she shook her head fiercely even though he couldn't see. She couldn't stand him being a martyr. Her fingers tangled in the cord. “FP, we’ve been through this. You need to stop taking the fall for other people. I did the crime so I'll do the time.”

The entire prosecution was built around Hal’s testimony. He knew she had hid the body, but he was blissfully unaware that she had recruited help from anybody else. The police had known about her involvement since the beginning. All she could do was protect Betty, Jughead, and FP from being implicated alongside her. 

“Alice…” he started to protest.

“It couldn’t have been different.” Alice closed her eyes, fighting back tears. She wished it hadn't come to this.

“I know. I just miss you,” She heard him sigh and imagined him rubbing his temples.

“FP, I love you so much. I’m so sorry for everything I’m putting you through.” 

“We promised for better or for worse,” he said and she laughed softly at the reminder of their wedding vows. It seemed like so long ago. “I still mean it. I’ll always mean it.”

The guard who had been eyeing her tapped on his watch indicating her phone time was running out. 

“I gotta go,” she all but whispered into the phone. “Our fifteen minutes are up.”

“Goodnight, Al,” Her heart fluttered as she imagined his soft smile.

“Goodnight.”

Then, dial-tone. 


End file.
